The Democratic Party’s congressional campaign arm has spent more than three times as much money as its cash-strapped Republican counterpart in the battle over Alabama’s two open congressional seats.

As of Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had committed more than $1 million apiece on the state’s 2nd and 5th District races to replace retiring Reps. Bud Cramer and Terry Everett. The National Republican Congressional Committee had spent just a few hundred thousand dollars on each race.

The cash infusion gives Democratic candidates Parker Griffith and Bobby Bright a major advantage in advertising and shows how critical the parties view the races. Griffith is running against Republican Wayne Parker in north Alabama’s 5th District, while Bright faces Republican Jay Love in southeast Alabama’s 2nd District.